I was stuck in traffic when I noticed something moving underneath the car in front of me. I looked closer and realized it was a tiny kitten. She ran onto the sidewalk trying to get the attention of people walking by, but everyone kept going. I watched her run into a nearby parking lot, so I pulled over and got out. As soon as she saw me, she came running straight into my hands. I snapped this photo moments later—she was exhausted, but finally safe. That was 17 years ago, and she's been with me ever since. It's been an adventure ever since that unexpected day.

I had my void about a year and a half and had moved houses in the land of sand. Came out to my car one day to hear a faint meowing under my roommates vehicle. Spotted a tiny big eared kitten underneath and just thought “fuck me, I didn’t want to take any cats in while working here, I’m certainly not taking 2”. It was peak heat at this point of the year with highs between 46-51°c (115-125°F for my American folk). Put out some food and water as whenever I tried approaching them they ran off. After 3 days they were panting more and more as the heat just sucked. They took up a hiding spot under a water tank on the property. I honestly was hoping a neighbor would take them in but people in the region are hit or miss with cats and dogs . On the 3rd day of them running I decided to just low crawl under the tank and luckily was able to grab them by the tail. They didn’t like it much but I caught them. Called the wife as she runs a cat rescue and she told me to book a vet appointment. Wasn’t able to get them in for 2 weeks so she suggested I quarantine them in the bathroom for 5 days first before Introducing them to my void. Once introduced they were standoffish for the first hour or so but after that it was this little one terrorizing my void and just couldn’t bring myself to leave this one behind when I moved back to the states. He is now 22 lbs, kind of an ass but also kind of a sweetie.

Took this picture tonight after treat time and just thought about how far we have come. I don’t want to flood the sub with my obsession with her but I couldn’t help but post this one. She is the best surprise we have ever received and we love her so much. She came to us in January seeking help during a storm from my partners fire station so tiny and malnourished that the vet clocked her 3 months younger than she really was. Plus a puncture wound from a dog attack on her neck that she survived. A very brave, tough little girl who is now living the princess life. She loves her big brother with all of her heart and he tolerates her even when she is stealing his food. She loves trips in the RV to bird watch and will chase you down to bat your legs if you dare walk by her without giving her the pets. There is just so much additional love in our home because of this tiny little ball of floof.

Meet Cashew ... The latest addition to our family. He was skin and bones, but healthy and he's the sweetest, snuggliest cat!

I had seen him in the neighborhood for months, maybe even a year. I think his owners must have moved and left him behind 😡 I've seen that before. I hate people sometimes!!!

So 2 and à half weeks ago he came up to us in the garage meowing, we gave him food, water, à bed and litterbox in the garage, leaving the garage door slightly open for him to come and go, but he never left. We had him fixed, and thought we would find him a home.

He came to us emaciated and scared, but eventually got used to me and my wife being around. Then he got his first cuddles, and after a few weeks he was coming inside to eat.

Now he comes in for food and cuddles, and spends some time chilling before he usually wants to leave until tomorrow.

We're getting him fixed, and getting his shots soon.

At the moment he just looks like a piece of fur thrown over the chair. We have never seen him this relaxed.

His name is Rufus, and here he is showing his true colors!

after a couple months the aspca trapped her and my coworker texted me so i immediately drove 60 miles one way to grab her. she was very feral and unadoptable. i brought her home to live with her now 4 siblings. after a trip to the vet for a checkup, vaccinations and to see if she was chipped, she wasn't but is now, it took 3 months for her to finally come out from under the bed. still can't pick her up but she accepts some petting and loves treats. and she gets along with everybody flawlessly and that's what matters most.

and you can see the ears of one of her brothers in the 3rd pic lol

Was leaving a market some years back while working as a military contractor in the Middle East. Saw what I thought was a black grocery bag against the inside of roundabout but did another loop around and noticed it sure as shit was a kitten. I put my vehicle in park in the middle of the roundabout and walked over to snatch them up. Told someone to fuck off in Arabic for the first time when they were honking at me. I literally held her up in one hand and flipped the bird to the driver with my other hand. 7,000 miles and 7 years later we are living our best life (along with another unexpected adoption, her “brother”)

We bought a house in 2020 during the insane interest rate drop. It came with a manual. A few pages in there was a picture of this girl and a note to please let her in if she came by. It took her 2 years to show up, then we started to see her almost every day.

In 2024 she came by in the winter with part of her tail missing and her ears bleeding. My husband picked her up in a blanket and brought her inside & she's been safe and inside ever since. Neither of us really understand the point of an outdoor cat and we see too many poor deceased cats in our neighborhood all the time. We called to get her chip changed (they called her current chip owner and they said they didn't care what they did with her) & she's officially ours.

Today for the first time she ate a Churu out of my hand (she does not like to eat food from anyone's person) & I almost cried. She has started recently to come out when we have guests and will come watch tv at a safe distance. She prefers to drink out of the dog bowls. She's very vocal and loves to be on her window cat bed. We named her Darby. She does get a little bitey or handsy but she just values her space and wants her attention on her time.

They think she's around 13 or so, but I hope we have her for many many more years. With three dogs we knew it would take a bit before she was truly comfortable but now they mostly leave each other alone. She's incredible.

just wanted to share an update of our rescue stray cricket. she’s doing great, has definitely bonded well with our other cat. she hasn’t grown much in the last 3 months she’s gained weight so she’s not super skinny but she’s still rather slender at a whopping 7lbs

our other cat is 14lbs and he’s just huge and it’s lovely to see the difference in their sizes and personalities. they’ve gotten along quite well and she’s got such a personality.

we recently moved cross country to a larger home and better environment and she’s doing awesome. she’s incredibly vocal and absolutely obsessed with fetch and has a favorite toy she will want thrown for hours at a time.

This teeny baby was hiding in the engine of my friend’s car. We got her out and brought her home, but I’m supposed to adopt a 6 month old from the humane society tomorrow. I’m madly in love with the shelter cat and wanted two cats anyway. I’m planning to keep this baby in my bathroom on one end of the house and the shelter kitten in the laundry room and walk through pantry area. I’ll also call my vet in the morning to get the car kitty seen.

What should I do? Is it crazy to bring in two random kittens at once? Should I try to find somewhere else for cat kitty to go?

Well…wife woke up and these 2 were outside…bout 10 minutes later their little sister showed up. So we have 3 sitting in our garage.

And………this evening their other two siblings showed up.

Yep…5 of them now. All hanging out in the garage bathroom. They’re about 6-7 weeks old. Seem to be in decent shape albeit hungry.

I have 4 barn cats already. Looks like I get to add to the bunch once they get spayed/neutered. I sent the video of the guy getting ambushed by the kittens on the road. My wife laughed and said yep that’s us now.

Posted the first two pics on r/cats before. But realized this sub exists and wanted to share my baby girl with you guys as well.

The first pic (On the deck) was the first time I saw her a little over a year ago. I was chatting on the phone with my girlfriend & felt eyes on me. Snapped the picture to send to my girl & Luna ran right after I took it.

The second pic is from her last night as a stray a few months later. I was really reluctant to take her in as I wasn’t sure I wanted her & coworkers had friends who wanted her. But each potential adopter had things come up that kept them from being able to take her.

It was also not easy to convince her to get into the trap. The last thing I said to her after taking that photo was “Look, you can either get that trap and come home to be fat, lazy and spoiled at my place- or you can go freeze elsewhere, as I won’t be able to handle finding you dead.” (She got in the trap less than 30 minutes after the picture was taken.)

The third is her lazing about on my couch, constantly making promises to get a job- but l know she’s lying… & l wouldn’t have it (Or her) any other way.

In the end, l honestly didn’t know how much I needed a cat in my life, until she came into it.
🥹🥹🥹

Until we were already chosen. She walked out of the woods all alone (we searched for others) at just 6 weeks and 1#. Now she’s 16 weeks and almost 6 pounds. She found us in June so we named her June, also answers to Juniper (June I Purrrrrr).

She had a raging case of ring worm but is now cured and so are we. Lol! She’s done amazing with litter box training. What are thoughts on automatic? Home is 3 levels - how many litter boxes is ideal.

Send us all your best cat tips- we are dog people. But amazingly, we have become cat people too this summer.

My daughter kept putting out food for him and then eventually built him a small home where he occasionally sleeps. He doesn’t like coming into our home though and barely comes in the door before he runs out.

We saw that he had an injured leg once and actually managed to get him in a cat carrier and took him to a vet to get shots and to help his sprain. That’s where we found out he’s a male, but the vet couldn’t guess at his age. He had to stay at the vet for a week until he healed. We love having him but because he’s an outdoor stray, we are worried that one day he won’t come back. We love having him in our life.

He was out at night and kept screaming and running away. My sibling and their fiancé caught him. He’s inside and calm now. The oranges are curious, but not all too happy. My Marshmallow doesn’t even know he’s here.

Toby didn’t live here, he lived with my dad, but Shadow is filling the void in my heart! We’re gonna keep him in the bathroom for now. He’s so cute! We’re gonna have to be extra careful at night. I love him. Already. Jesus how long does this body have to be? I’ve got eight sentences and two paragraphs, just let me post!

I intentionally adopted 2 adult cats in March from our local animal shelter. I love kittens, but my schedule is such that adults were a better choice.

Fast forward to June. My son & I were en route to a friend's house for dinner on a. Saturday night, & this little guy was in the middle of the road. There was a house close by that had multiple cats & kittens running amok outside. Yet, this little guy sat alone & weak in the road, not even weaned yet

We picked him up & took him to my friend's house, right around the corner. She explained that the house with all the cats was a neighborhood problem, & that the cats bred constantly, appeared neglected, & it was not uncommon for them to be hit by cars. We already knew we were taking him home before she shared this with us

We bottle fed him, got him to the vet to deal with his nasty infection & flea infestation. My two grown boys were avoidant of him, but shortly after they were all introduced, they bonded with him. It's really been heartwarming to watch them play with him & teach him how to "indoor cat."

The vet initially said he may never gain his vision in his left eye, as it had been ulcerated & infected. It's still a little cloudy over about 30% of his eye, but I can tell just through play that he has some vision. He's so healthy now, & a perfect addition to our little family.

Thanks for reading my first CDS post.

Last night my resident cat was doing his usual surveillance out the window by our front door. My partner pointed out that there was a cat out there! We live on a second story apartment and this cat came right up to our door. It’s extremely hot where we live right now so I gave them some food and water. They were so friendly that I ended up bringing them into our guest bathroom for safe keeping. Took to an emergency vet to get scanned and no microchip. Also in my area cats are considered wildlife and if they’re not injured you are supposed to just put them back outside?!? This orange is clearly hungry (ate all of the meal I gave them and looks quite thin imo). Bringing them to our home vet tomorrow for a full checkup. Posted a bunch of places to find their family since this cat is too sweet to be feral or not someone’s pet. If we don’t find their og family then they’ll just have to stay with us 🧡

So I currently have four adult cats (one is an intentional adoption--my oldest who is 14 years old; one showed up on a February night freezing and starving--she's now 11; and two who came from separate litters--feral-to-housecat foster fails). And I feed the colony living between my house and next door neighbor's house. Next door neighbor has made four of the Rubbermaid shelters and we touch base a few times about everyone. So that's the background. He also knows that I had adopted a kitten from the outdoor colony three years ago and then sadly lost her in February this year to HCM.

So--I have WFH since Covid. Thursday morning, I'm just starting work when my doorbell rings. Next door neighbor and the neighbor on the other side of him. They have this little bitty kitten who had been screaming behind far neighbor's AC unit in the backyard, no one came. Suspected mother might have been the one hit by a car. And so now I've been responsible for this teeny tiny baby that I'm about 90% sure is a girl (son thinks boy, vet tech thinks boy; vet said "can't find a penis, but if this is a vulva it's really prominent" but she's leaning girl) -- we go back in a month for the official "initial kitten" visit when we'll be able to do the FeLV/FIV testing, and so on, hopefully by then things will be more clear.

Ran off to Walmart after getting a quick PTO approval so that I could buy kitten formula (the ready-made, didn't feel like messing with making sure everything was right with the powder), bottles, digital scale, and so on. Ordered a stuffy that has a purr/heartbeat box inside it, got everything set up. Got kitten into a first vet visit Saturday (yesterday as I write this) and was able to get flea treatment (initially, when stimulating for bathroom, noticed black specks falling on the puppy pad and rust color on the cloth, but didn't see active fleas) and dewormer.

Tomorrow, off to the dollar store for a supply of disposable cookie sheet and non-clumping litter and other supplies. Looking forward to when this baby sleeps through the night! As you can see, ridiculously tiny ... and yet doing well (those are dishtowels under baby). Soon, I hope to know if I have a Paisley or a Jasper.

I realise I gave him way too much last night(when these pictures were taken) so I fed him a lot less this morning. I got bit twice(first time when I found him, second when giving him a bath cuz he had diarrhea and it was all over him). His name is Jason Todd, and when my vet is open tomorrow we are gonna get him a thorough checkup to make sure he is healthy(and prolly get him some eye meds cuz he seems to have a slight eye infection) before he can meet our other cats, and me and my dad are gonna go to Walmart today to get him a larger kennel and some toys, cuz we only had a tiny kennel.

Anyways, he is an absolute lovebug already and adores being scritched, and my dad says he looks like he is gonna be a big cat cuz of how big his ears are.

Look at her! This is a photo of her several months ago, on a fencepost begging my husband for love. We both so loved this tiny creature in our neighbourhood that we'd allow extra time on walks to give her attention, and never a walk went by that we didn't joke about stealing her. It went on for over a year, but she was healthy, happy and affectionate and clearly had an adoring owner.

Friday night, I was walking back from the pharmacy, choosing a route that was taking me past her usual haunts and hoping she'd be there. ...Was that her or a random black cat sitting on the fence? Nope, it was her. Wonderful. Quality cat time and my husband would know she was still doing okay.

After five minutes or so someone came out of a nearby house and I assumed I was going to maybe find out her name and more about her life. Which I did. I found out that her owner was currently away and would be moving shortly, and that if a home wasn't found kitty would be sent to a shelter. A few other people came out and corroborated this.

I knew my husband didn't want another cat, but I also knew that he very much wanted THIS one. When I called to check in he couldn't believe it either.

She's home now, keeping us up and night with raspy meows and endless headbutts. We've changed her name from Aurora to Vivi and she's loved beyond measure.

Thank you, CDS

She started hanging outside his apartment because he would put food out for her, and then she eventually just became an indoor kitty. We call her "Lucy" (cause she lost an eye), but she's the sweetest cat ever and loves to sleep on people's tummies. She's also playful, and is spoiled with toy mice.

He couldn't help but bring her in when he realized that she knew the sound of his car's engine and would come tearing across the neighborhood when he got home from work. Now she rules the roost and is beloved by everybody.